


Show Down

by Jia_Stormborn



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SHINee, Super Junior
Genre: 12XO, 5HINee - Freeform, Angst, Gen, JJP is mentioned but this is mostly SM boys- other labels may get sequels-but only if you ask, M/M, OT12 (EXO), Time Travel, Your Song-Rita Ora, conspiracy theories out the yin-yang, you are riding by the seat of your pants-I am cackling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:01:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26611096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jia_Stormborn/pseuds/Jia_Stormborn
Summary: Ah.This is the time travel fic I wish we had.It may be upsetting, so please mind the tags- they're not a joke.Other than that, have fun with some reunions!
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Choi Minho/Lee Jinki | Onew, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay, Kim Jongdae/Kim Jongdae's Wife/Kim Minseok, Kim Jonghyun/Lee Taemin, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Lu Han/Oh Sehun
Kudos: 4





	Show Down

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, as I'm posting this on a fiction site, this is a work of fiction. Please do not take my interpretation of these people or events as being in any way true.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Way the World Is (was)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ _Rita Ora- Your Song_ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsELrcVNzG0)

_December 22, 2022_

The quiet chiming of the alarm system was all that broke the man's silence. There were several security layers to get where he was going, but there was no need to fret over if he'd be able to get in.

Not when the keys were imprinted forever in his memory, the last merely the hidden latch of a secret door. Gears moved silently, permitting him entry into the aerie that had been created from what had been a luxury high rise decades ago.

Music played softly over the speakers in the wall, and the tune relaxed him. It was a welcome and goodbye, in one, and each voice that chimed in was dear to him, to the man, even with the song looped.

Exhaling, Oh Sehun of EXO shed the aloof persona he'd adopted almost by accident during his basic training. He didn't need to be so harshly shielded, not here. Rolling his shoulders back, Sehun took in the softly lit living room. He wasn't expected until tomorrow afternoon, had intended to stay with his family for the night. Still, they'd sent him on with love and admonitions to bring his lover with him when he returned for New Years'.

Shaking his head fondly, Sehun tread carefully to look at the screen on the mantel, sighing when he saw that all the dogs were safe in the kennel above him. It had been hard to decide that the dogs really should be kennelled at night, but it was easier for everyone to do it this way.

Quietly, Sehun poked his head in each bedroom as he went, smiling softly to himself. Junmyeon was wrapped around Yi Fan in the master bedroom, and if Sehun were a betting man, he'd have put his wager on Junmyeon, not caring that Yi Fan had him in a death grip. Shaking his head, Sehun closed the door quietly. Withholding a snicker when a peek into the next room yielded Kyungsoo sprawled over Jongin, the younger man with a hand in the elder's hair. The older snored so loud Sehun probably didn't need to be as quiet as he was, closing the door.

Next was Yi Xing and Zi Tao, which was comical because they were stacked on top of each other, both on their stomachs. Yi Xing's face so firmly smushed into the hair at Zi Tao's nape and untangling that melding was not something Sehun envied. It was cute, though, because the moment Zi Tao wriggled in his sleep, Yi Xing mumbled, flailing his hand like he was attempting to pet the other man's hair to comfort him. Biting back a chuckle, Sehun turned away and continued on his patrol.

Baek and Chanyeol were next, and Sehun only cracked the door open enough to ascertain two men were sleeping in that bed. He did not want to know how much they'd destroyed the room with their shenanigans since he'd last been home.

They were _evil_!

Shaking his head to clear what he'd seen, Sehun carefully opened the second to last door, unsure what exactly he'd find.

He nearly breathed out a sigh of relief.

Jongdae lay on his side, spooning Minseok, arms firm around the smaller man. Jongdae's wife and daughter were snuggled up to the eldest Kim, the baby in Minseok's arms. The woman who'd conquered both their hearts rested her head on Minseok's shoulder, her hair obscuring her face.

Thank fuck.

Sehun hadn't been sure how Jongdae's idiot idea to pull Minseok into his marriage would work. Apparently, it not only had, but it had also paid dividends. Minseok had needed love, needed someone to anchor him, and to know that he'd found more than that, found a family…

It did Sehun's heart good.

Carefully, he shut the door and tiptoed into the last one. Luhan was slumbering in their bed, bare-chested and beautiful, Sehun's lover looking so damn peaceful he regretted the probability of waking him.

Shucking his fatigues, Sehun paused when he realized that the empty chair by the door was so he could put them away neatly. Unfortunately, so he'd be able to find everything when it was time to leave. Grumbling under his breath, EXO's maknae balled up his fatigues and padded off to the shower, flicking it on and waiting for it to heat up. He groaned once he got under the spray.

Oh, but that felt good.

-

Lu Han jolted awake when he heard the shower start.

Given that one of the things everyone had insisted on when redesigning the penthouse was that it be completely sound-proofed. At least in the bedrooms, the likelihood that he was hearing someone else's ensuite as they used it was… nil, really.

Once his eyes adjusted to the dark and his brain cleared of the post-sleep fog, Lu Han squinted at the lump on the chair. He'd not bothered to lay out his clothes for tomorrow, so why..?

It hit him as a soft groan came from the bathroom.

Sehun was home!

Hurriedly, Lu Han threw himself from the bed, anxious to see Sehun, touch him, and kiss him. He wrenched open the door, panting out.

"Sehun!"

Warm brown eyes looked at him with surprise, the way those chocolate irises melted not a surprise but still adored as an achievement. Sehun's smile reached his eyes as he flipped the curtain open and waved his hand, his invitation a simple

"Gege."

Lu Han stripped out of his boxers and almost dived into the shower, moaning as Sehun took him into his arms and shoved his tongue down his throat. It shouldn't have been hot, how the younger man manhandled him, but it was. Sehun, of course, knew that if he gave Lu Han an inch, he'd take a mile, and given that Sehun had plans, well.

He'd just have to remain in control.

Thankfully, he'd managed to clean himself up before Lu Han had poked his head in, so he didn't feel bad about turning off the water and shaking his hair. His few quick passes with the towel over his limbs were long enough for Lu Han to get ideas of his own.

Huffing, Sehun extracted his cock from Lu Han's mouth. Usually, he wouldn't mind a blowjob, but, just now, he needed to see, to feel and know how Lu Han felt in his hands as he came. It might have been selfish, but after all this time without even one of his hyungs, Sehun wanted, needed to reconnect with his lover in the way he loved best.

Sehun that is.

Lu Han loved to use his mouth, but Sehun needed to have him spread out beneath him this once.

Carefully whisking the towel over Lu Han's body, he tossed it into the basket in the bathroom and got out, blotting the leftover water on his feet with the bath mat. Before he gathered Lu Han into his arms, revelling in the older man's squeak as he dropped him into the bed moments later.

Despite the dampness of Sehun's skin, Lu Han didn't protest.

Probably because the other man was ogling Sehun's engorged cock.

Shrugging it off, Sehun leaned over Lu Han, luxuriating in having the freedom to kiss this man. To tangle their tongues and bodies and not be bothered with anything but the heat between them. Lu Han sighed into the kiss, arching into the maknae's hands, whimpering when Sehun drew away, dropping kisses on Lu Han's face before digging in the nightstand on his side.

Chanyeol had known that he'd be home, had doubtlessly filled this drawer to the brim as a joke.

Yeah, Sehun knew his members too well. As they knew him too well. All his favourite products had been crammed into the drawer. Lube, condoms, even one of the vibrators he'd initially been nicked from Junmyeon to try on Lu Han- in brand new packaging.

A glance over his shoulder, to meet Lu Han's expressive eyes meant seeing his lover pout exaggeratedly at him. Shaking his head, Sehun hastily pulled on a condom and dripped lube onto his fingers. He smirked when Lu Han flipped himself onto his stomach, gripping the sheets and raising his hips and ass for Sehun's perusal.

Licking his lips, Sehun started stretching Lu Han, carefully listening for the slightest sound of discomfort. When the man beneath was bucking and whining for more, Sehun ran a hand over his back, thinking.

On the one hand, Sehun could slam home in one move like this. Could tell Lu Han to grip the headboard and prepare to get railed. They'd done it that way before, and Lu Han had liked it.

But that wasn't what Sehun wanted.

He loved Lu Han, wanted to love him and care for him, kiss and caress him and know he was the only one to do so.

It might be selfish, but he didn't care anymore.

Lu Han had run away with his heart years ago, and if all he got was this-

(There is a part of Sehun's brain that knows he and Lu Han had exchanged promises years ago. That before the other man had left SM, they'd spoken, and they'd spoken again before Sehun had enlisted. But after so many months living a lie, Sehun is drowning in need and want for reassurance)

For his part, Lu Han takes being pulled into Sehun's lap well. Maybe, because he sees something Sehun's eyes, his whines and whimpers are just a little louder than they could be. Perhaps the smack of his ass rising and falling on Sehun's thighs gets him riled up a little faster, gets him bouncing a little harder on his lover's cock.

And maybe that feeds into Sehun's frenzy, has him thrusting harder and gripping Lu Han tighter.

In any case, Sehun explodes into orgasm first, coming down from the high as Lu Han let go.

It's kind of messy, for Sehun, to come back to his senses and have Lu Han look at him sleepily, both of them tacky with cooling semen. He wouldn't trade it for anything, though. Just tightens his grip on Lu Han for a moment, flexes his hips to hear Lu Han grunt a protest to the overstimulation. Then he reaches blindly for the wipes he knows Chanyeol would have put in the damn drawer.

Still, he has Lu Han in his arms and at least until just before breakfast tomorrow, unless there isn't a decided schedule...

Then it won't matter that he's back until someone knocks on their door tomorrow morning.

Or afternoon.

-

Lu Han's still a little cum-dumb the next morning, but he's plenty awake enough to enjoy the others' reaction when a pyjama-clad Sehun trailed him from the bedroom. Catcalls are heard from all around the table, of course. Their fearless leaders ignore it to gaze into each other's eyes. Kris- Yi Fan- every inch the adoring husband he'd never had the chance to be, really.

Especially when Junmyeon turned from him to pointedly clear his throat and direct them to their meal. The next few days were important, he insisted, and they all knew it was true.

There were wardrobes to finalize and filming to edit if there wasn't a dance to learn or a song to harmonize. Trying out makeup looks for their first comeback as twelve since the dissolution of EXO-M.

Kyungsoo was watching Jongin coo at the baby with the sappiest look on his face, but no one was mentioning it. Not when Sehun wasn't the only one on leave from the military. Once they were done, though, it'd be all twelve all the time. Just… they had to do some legwork right now.

Minseok was trying to feed the baby and let Jongdae feed him at the same time, Songhwa, their wife, sniggering as she took pictures. Yi Xing and Zi Tao were bickering in Chinese, and Baek and Chanyeol seemed to catch most of it because they were snickering along.

It was beautiful chaos, and Lu Han was ecstatic to share it with Sehun, who turned to him with a smile and blew him a kiss before dishing up their breakfast.

-

_December 23, 2022_

Sodam smiled from the doorway. Taemin was asleep on the couch, her babies on his chest. He was the best uncle, the best brother, and she was so grateful to him. She knew that even with the odd grumble, her husband was grateful too.

It wasn't the money he offered so easily, though her inheritance from her brother had undoubtedly helped. It was the way he snuggled the children to sleep after he'd been in the studio all day. It was the way he'd waltzed into the house after each of the children was born, either helping them himself or hiring the appropriate people to fill the gaps.

It was how he visited them all as often as he could, on days that should've been spent with his family, now that Jonghyun-

No, don't go there. Don't.

She knew why Taemin refused to visit his family. It made her heart hurt, to think of someone as loving and giving as Taemin refusing to see his family for words they'd said years ago. But, by Taemin's own admission…

Well.

It hurt too much to go down that road, no matter how much she wanted to.

So she'd leave it at the fact that this brilliant young man mourned her baby brother still. Mourned his loss and the loss of his love, she thought.

Jiwon, her husband, wrapped an arm around her and murmured.

"Eomoni wants to know when we're putting the babies to bed so you can get started." Nodding, Sodam pulled their youngest into her arms, chuckling when Taemin murmured a protest. Jiwon grabbed their older boy, patting Taemin's chest before leading the way to the kids' rooms.

Sodam returned to the living room, smiling faintly when she realized Taemin was already curled up at her mother's side. He was half asleep again but struggling to stay awake now that he'd realized what they were doing.

Once the videos started playing, Sodam dabbed at her eyes with the tissues Jiwon had put on the table. Christmas just wasn't the same anymore without her baby brother excitedly jabbering about what he was doing with his members. It wasn't like he'd be dragging Taemin in the door as he had every holiday, the younger man blushing at the welcome they gave him.

Not anymore. Not ever again.

Sodam choked back a sob.

Taemin had already started sniffling the moment he heard Jonghyun's beloved voice, sitting up to lean in to see better.

Her mother was crying silently.

Even Jiwon got emotional on these rare nights, but he dealt with it better than the rest of them.

When their oldest son crept into the room, clearly intending to whine for something, he froze when he saw the man on the screen.

Typically, Sodam would drop everything for her children.

But tonight, she didn't have it in her.

Luckily she didn't have to.

Jonghyun, named for his lost uncle, carefully climbed onto Taemin's lap and buried his face into his chest, mumbling.

"Taemin-samchon."

Taemin's slight smile, tear-washed but there broke her heart even as her mother pulled them all closer, Jonghyun squeezing Taemin's neck as if to comfort him.

(Park Jiwon tries not to curse out his late brother-in-law as he sees the people who mourn the man cry together. It hurts, even after all this time to see these members of his family hurt, even if he knows…

Even if he knows why, better than even they do)

-

_December 24, 2022_

Four men in long coats waited for him.

Jung Yoogeun hurried out of his schoolyard, already knowing who they were.

The SHINee-appas hadn't been able to contact him because SM was a crappy company, but the moment they'd been able to, they'd seized the chance. Maybe Yoogeun should have resented that his other fathers had basically abandoned him after they'd finished filming Hello Baby. Still, he didn't have it in him. Not after he'd received the video, Jonghyun-appa had left for him. Not after they'd sat him down and told him everything they could about what they'd been up to.

Aside from military enlistment, all four of his Appas had been busy networking to secure a different future for themselves.

But that was for tomorrow.

Today, Yoogeun was going to have one last day as a child, with his Appas. He'd signed on as a trainee at Big Hit, and he was debuting late next year. The Appas had all helped him in some way, had encouraged him and dusted him off when he needed it.

Now, for the fun times before the hard times.

Jinki squinted at the kid. It had felt wrong, initially, when they were helping him train as an idol, but he'd insisted he would become just as great as them, would pay tribute to the men his Appas had become.

Minho and Yoogeun still looked so similar it made Jinki's heart hurt. He and Minho had discussed emigrating and adopting before. Yet, they had ultimately decided that a conversation had to be put on hold until Taemin was back full time to take part in it.

He already knew the younger members would never leave. Key's family and work were here, and he claimed to have no interest in children. If he did, he'd often said he'd channel it into taking care of the dongsaengs SM so frequently pushed on them.

As for Taemin…

He might have cut ties with his family, but Jonghyun's family was still here. Jonghyun's grave was here. Jonghyun's nephews knew Taemin as their much-absent Taemin-samchon, and their maknae had vociferously defended his connection to them before. It would only be worse if Jinki or Minho suggested leaving Korea.

Jinki set off, shaking his head, grinning into his collar as his coat flapped around his legs. Among other gifts, Yoogeun's school coat had been purchased by Kibum, who'd insisted the boy would grow into it. Minho and Taemin had laughed while Yoogeunnie had gushed, but really, Jinki was with Yoogeun's parents on this one.

What teenager needs a Givenchy trenchcoat for school?

Although Jinki did understand where Kibum was coming from.

For all the time that had passed and their collective youth at the time, they'd had the chance at fatherhood, not many idols did. Sure, established idols could make it work, but young as they'd been when they'd filmed Hello Baby, it had given them an idea of parenthood to work with.

Biting back a sigh, Jinki unlocked the car and got in.

-

As they usually did, group meetings that didn't have to be taped for content were held at Jinki and Minho's place. It was in a building in a particular part of Seoul- the secrecy district. Most of the people here either had something to hide or did not care to have their comings and goings observed. It was a very closed neighbourhood. It had taken a better part of a decade for the leader of SHINee and his live-in boyfriend to find a home here.

Minho felt it was very worth it. He and Jinki could lounge in the common yard at the top of the building without worrying about the neighbours snapping a picture to sell to the tabloids. Considering that one of the other occupants (and the person who'd fast-tracked their acceptance once they'd moved in) was Leeteuk-hyung, there wasn't much to be afraid of.

Yoogeun seemed to enjoy the neighbourhood, which was a plus, the odd night his parents okayed a sleepover. Taemin and Kibum had had beds here forever, and pictures on the wall commemorated many milestones. And yes, if the look in Jinki's eyes was anything to go by, the only thing the place was missing was the sound of children. Or at least a child, learning to dance or sing or do whatever they liked.

Biting his lip, Minho finished arranging the snacks and had to bite down on the chuckle, trying to come out. Jinki and the others had decided to smother the baby with presents. Yoogeun himself was busy trying to get something out of his backpack.

That something turned out to be lovely letters for them all as well as a video of Yoogeun, filmed a week ago, as he danced and sang a SHINee song. Dabbing at his eyes, Minho discreetly sent the video to his personal email and shepherded them all into the living room.

He was quite excited for the broadcast EXO was doing, after all.

_The camera opens on a nicely lit set. Not too dark, but not so bright it would burn the eyes. The seven current members of EXO are seated at a circular table. Lay, of course, is in China, and Sehun was the only one who hadn't confirmed he was coming home for Christmas, so it was as good as they were going to get, members-wise._

_Junmyeon clapped his hands and began._

_"You know, on, Exoplanet-" His members groan as a chorus, Chanyeol banging his fist on the table as Minseok growled something unintelligible._

_Baekhyun snapped in a low tone, flashing a smile at Junmyeon, who then continued._

_"On Exoplanet, we don't celebrate Christmas unless everyone in the family is there, It's just not the same. However…"_

_Guardian Suho, the EXO leader, grins wolfishly, his members perking just before four distinct knocks on the door. Turning, Junmyeon calls._

_"Who is it?"_

_Sehun's voice, though muffled, clearly replies_

_"Senshine."_

_The door of the set opens, and in files Sehun, Lay is behind him to the audience's surprise._

_Yi Fan, Lu Han and Zi Tao file into the world's shock, each grabbing a chair from the stack on the wall and grinning as they sit down. Junmyeon wiggles beside Yi Fan, smiling so vast it would look painful if he wasn't so damn happy._

_Sehun has an arm around Lu Han, who's squished himself between Minseok and the maknae, smile so bright he's luminous in his joy. Lay and Tao are shoulder to shoulder at the other end, the members having devolved into chaos._

Out in the big, wide world, SHINee is speechless.

JJ Project, snuggled up in bed for one of their rare joint leaves, are mirrored in their shock, jaws open as they stare at the screen.

At the BTS dorm, Jeongguk sits with Jaehyun and several other 97-liners, all of them rigid with shock.

It's entirely a coincidence that Han Geng, up late at his residence in China, sees the kids' new video. He smiles to himself and shoots his assistant a request to endorse their new brand.

They deserve it.

-

Johnny is up late, brooding over a cup of tea.

He'd honestly have preferred coffee, but Taeyong gets finicky about his consumption now that he's older. The other senior members who haven't left are still in the building, though he knows Taeyong is still asleep.

Or at least he better be.

Taeyong does too much and always feels that it's not enough. Johnny doesn't need to bog him down with his bullshit. Yeah, the EXO crew had offered him a place with him. The others had been- not pushy, never that.

But.

Well. The fans knew enough about what was going on during that nebulous period where he'd been training. Not even Taeyong- Johnny's precious Taeyongie- knew everything that had gone down.

He would never have the chance to make the guilt stop gnawing on him.

The things he'd done, the person he'd had to be…

No, it hadn't sat well with him, but at the time, it had been his friends on the line, and later.

Later, it had been Taeyong and their little family at stake.

He couldn't leave.

Not now.

Not ever again.

Taeyong pads out of the room they share, sometimes, and wraps his arms around Johnny sleepily, murmuring about all the things he'd seen on the new EXO Livestream. The new songs they'd performed, the oldies they'd brought back.

There's a part of Johnny that kind of wants to resent that EXO needed so little to pull themselves back together, back to being one. Honestly, that part isn't too big because he knows the price Yi Fan would have had to pay.

And if it was anyone else, he'd question his own assertion that it was Yifan who'd paid the price.

But Johnny knows the price. Knew Yi Fan well, too, once upon a time. If anyone would pay the price for a reunion with his members, Wu Yi Fan would never allow any of the others to do so.

-

Yi Fan studies the leather wristband on his left arm.

He hates it, but he has to wear it. It identifies what he's done, who he is, what it took to become who he is, now, and much as it cost him, he knows that the price is not nearly enough for what was lost.

Johnny should have debuted far earlier.

Jonghyun shouldn't have fallen when he did.

And Kris shouldn't have had to leave Junmyeon behind because it was dangerous to love him.

But Johnny hadn't.

Jonghyun did.

And Kris.

Kris had.

He was the real monster.

-

There are times, days and ways in which the world is shaped and rearranged.

Christmas Day of 2022 was one of them.

People were celebrating.

People were mourning.

People were loving.

People were dying.

Most of all, there were people wishing.

**Author's Note:**

> [Show Down Meta](https://jiastormbornfanfiction.blogspot.com/2020/09/show-down-meta.html)
> 
> [Next Week's Fic Meta](https://jiastormbornfanfiction.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-music-you-cast-magic-you-compose.html)
> 
> CC: <https://curiouscat.me/Seashine>
> 
> The next installment of Show Down should be coming on October 7, 2020
> 
> The JJP Tebey OS ( _Denim on Denim_ ) Should be out October 2... ish
> 
> Happy Equinox!


End file.
